musings and stories by a wife, mom, teacher

Celebrate ~ Rainbows

Every week Ruth Ayres extends an invitation to share a celebration. What a great way to focus on something to celebrate!

This week I’m celebrating rainbows. I simply love them. When I was little, I always loved drawing a big rainbow arching from one little white cloud to another little white cloud. My first graders are always drawing or painting rainbows of all kinds. Entire papers covered with rainbows, rainbow hearts, diagonal rainbows, rainbow bracelets, and the list goes on. Rainbows just make me smile.

In our family, we believe that rainbows are signs from our loved ones in heaven. It’s their way of letting us know they’re ok. In some ways, rainbows are comforting to us. We also believe that the first rainbow we see after losing a family member is the sign that they are ok. Whenever I see a rainbow in the sky, I immediately feel my smile.

Well, this past Thursday, we felt nothing like smiling at all. We had to say goodbye to our loving dog, Lucy. She had been sick for over a year, and fought the good fight, but on Thursday she decided she was too tired to fight anymore. She was really my mom’s best friend, even though my brother brought her home about a year after my dad passed away. Emma and Lucy have been best pals since Emma was born. Losing her, our fur baby, has been a tough pill to swallow. There’s been lots of tears, lots of hugs, and lots of looking at pictures. We’ve all been pretty gloomy and it’s been hard to notice celebrations. But, just now, when I was outside on my mom’s porch, I looked up and there it was – a bright rainbow coming from a white cloud. The kind I used to draw when I was little. That rainbow was our sign and it’s my celebration. Even in sadness, there are still things to celebrate.

Today, I celebrate 10 joyful years with the most loving dog and rainbows!

So sorry for your loss. I’m a rainbow lover too. In our old neighborhood, when anyone saw a rainbow, they would call or yell to the neighbors and we would go out and watch the beauty together. 🙂 It was wonderful! I’m glad your dog sent you a rainbow – that’s very lucky indeed.